About Us

Ben and Jerry rent space in an old spool and bobbin mill on South Champlain Street in Burlington and begin packing their ice cream in pints. The reason? To distribute to grocery and Mom & Pop stores along the restaurant delivery routes Ben services out of the back of his old VW Squareback wagon.

As the news of Ben & Jerry's spreads, more & more people want a lick. So the first franchised scoop shop opens in Shelburne, Vermont.

The old gas station is demolished to create a parking lot. Just before the wrecking ball is swung, the new Ben & Jerry's on Cherry Street in Burlington is up & scooping.

Ben & Jerry's ice cream is used to build "the world's largest ice cream sundae" in St. Albans, Vermont; the sundae weighs 27,102 pounds.

Ben & Jerry's sets a precedent by discovering a little-known clause about stocks and brokering, then establish a Vermont-only public stock offering to raise money for a new manufacturing plant.

The Ben & Jerry's Foundation is established with a gift from Ben and Jerry & 7.5% of the company's annual pre-tax profits to fund community-oriented projects.

Ben & Jerry's launches the Cowmobile, a modified mobile home used to distribute free scoops in a unique, cross-country "marketing drive." On the return trip, the Cowmobile burns to the ground outside of Cleveland, Ohio (no one was hurt). Ben said it looked "like the world's largest Baked Alaska."

Ben & Jerry's introduces Cherry Garcia® ice cream. Named for Grateful Dead guitarist Jerry Garcia at the suggestion of two "DeadHeads" from Portland, Maine, Cherry Garcia® becomes the first ice cream named for a rock legend.

Ben and Jerry are named “U.S. Small Business Persons of the Year” by President Reagan in a White House Rose Garden ceremony. Jerry's one suit comes in handy and, luckily, Ben finds an Italian waiter's jacket to wear.

Ben & Jerry's comes out against Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH), based on concern about its adverse economic impact on family farming and public confidence in the wholesomeness of dairy products.

Eight million Ben & Jerry's pints carry a "Support Farm Aid" message as part of the grassroots efforts of Farm Aid, a non-profit organization whose mission is to keep family farmers on their land.

Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough is released in pints after years of research and development. The flavor rockets to the top of the most-popular-in-pints list. Today it still reigns among our all-time flavor hits. (The first-ever batch of the flavor was created in Ben & Jerry’s Burlington scoop shop in 1984, the result of an anonymous note scribbled on the shop's suggestion board).

Ben & Jerry's joins in a cooperative campaign with the national non-profit, Children's Defense Fund; the campaign goal is to bring children's basic needs to the top of the national agenda. Over 70,000 postcards are sent to Congress concerning kids and other national issues.

Wavy Gravy leads the pack of new flavors. It's named after the famous 1960's Woodstock Festival personality who is today a one-man non-profit helping kids.

Pints of Ben & Jerry's ice cream begin to appear in the United Kingdom.

Hundreds of thousands of cyber-surfers visit the Ben & Jerry's World Wide Web site for virtual licks & voluminous laughs.

Ben & Jerry's introduces Sorbets made with pure spring water & the best fruits & flavorings. Doonesberry® Sorbet is named after the popular "Doonesbury®" comic strip character. It has since been sent to the Flavor Graveyard, but other sorbets live on in Scoop Shops.

The great music & renowned concert tours of the Vermont-based musical group, Phish®, inspire Phish Food® ice cream.

Some folks thought our packages were hard to read (& the flavors hard to resist), so after 20 years we dressed up our pints with a fresh new look!

In the U.K., Ben & Jerry’s launches the Flying Friesian, a raucous tour bus retrofitted for fun, with a focus on fundraising for U.K. kids-in-need network, Childline.

August 3, 2000: Ben & Jerry’s becomes a wholly-owned subsidiary of Unilever. Through a unique acquisition agreement, an independent Board of Directors is created to provide leadership focused on preserving and expanding Ben & Jerry's social mission, brand integrity, and product quality. We call them the B.O.D. (Which means we really like them.)

Citizen Cool is a documentary about ordinary folks making an impact in their communities. We celebrate this new release with a flavor inspired by movie treats, Concession Obsession.

It's an ice cream flavor...it's an environmental action website...it's One Sweet Whirled™ and it's all interconnected, as Ben & Jerry's partners with Dave Matthews Band® & SaveOurEnvironment.org in a campaign to help fight global warming.

Ben & Jerry's kicks off the year with a birthday bash at our factory in Waterbury, Vermont at the first-ever Winter Fest. Still crazy after 25 years.

In an effort to drive voter turnout among young people in the US, Ben & Jerry's partners with Rock the Vote. RTV street teams leverage the long lines of customers on Free Cone Day to register over 11,000 voters – the biggest one-day grassroots registration in Rock the Vote's history.

To protest proposed oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, we construct a 900-pound Baked Alaska with our Fossil Fuel ice cream, shoulder it onto the US Capital lawn and serve it up with the help of Greenpeace and the Alaska Wilderness League.

Ben & Jerry's continues to support fair trade efforts which started with Coffee and the launch of Coffee Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz in 1996 by adding Vanilla and Chocolate to the line-up. Fairtrade certification guarantees that the farmers who grow the vanilla, cocoa and coffee beans get a fair price for their harvest, enabling them to reinvest in their land and communities.

When the U.S. Food & Drug Administration declared that it believed meat and milk from cloned animals was safe to eat, we were beside ourselves, twice over! To show our disappointment with the FDA's decision – and to urge Americans to speak out against cloning – we sent a determined herd of cow-costumed folks to Washington, D.C. for a "Truth or Clone-sequences" demonstration.

We introduce Goodbye Yellow Brickle Road in recognition of Elton John's first concert in Vermont.

We hold an international “Do the World a Flavor” contest encouraging people to share their ideas for a Fairtrade flavor. Top contestants visit the Dominican Republic, tour a cocoa co-op, and build a playground for children in the village of Yabon. The winning flavor, Almond Delight, is featured in scoop shops across the US as a Limited Batch in 2010.

Ben & Jerry's makes a significant commitment to source Fairtrade ingredients and to support the global Fairtrade movement. We’re in the process of converting our ingredients to Fairtrade globally where we feel we can have the greatest impact on improving the lives of farmers, strengthening their communities and protecting the environment.

When protestors in New York City and other places take to the streets under the Occupy Wall Street banner in the fall of 2011 to rally against increasing economic inequality in the United States, high unemployment, mortgage fraud, and too much corporate influence in American politics, Ben & Jerry’s Board of Directors issues a direct statement of solidarity, and we show up in Zucotti Park on several occasions to scoop ice cream for Occupiers.

Ben & Jerry’s gets creative with real Greek yogurt, introducing an epic selection of Greek Frozen Yogurt flavors that are uniquely creamy, boldly loaded with chunks and swirls, and really Greekin' good!

As the campaign to label food products made with GMO ingredients moves across the states, including Vermont, Ben & Jerry's is proud to stand with the growing consumer movement for transparency and the right to know what’s in our food supply by supporting mandatory GMO labeling legislation. In 2013, we also commit to transitioning all of our ingredients to be fully sourced non-GMO.

Our fans have spoken and want a Non-Dairy option, they even went as far as starting a Change.org petition.

The concoction is caramel and chocolate ice creams with chocolate cookie swirls & gobs of chocolate chip cookie dough & peanut butter cookie dough. If the flavor becomes half as popular as the unflappable Fallon, who was dubbed “entertainer of the year,” it may give Ben & Jerry’s other classic combinations a run for their money.

Our Non-Dairy flavor creations are made with almond milk, 100% Certified Vegan, and boldly loaded with chunks and swirls. You’ll get Ben & Jerry’s euphoria in every bite. These flavors deliver everything… but the cow. The first Non-Dairy flavors in our line up were: Chocolate Fudge Brownie, Chunky Monkey, Coffee Caramel Fudge and P.B. & Cookies.

Pint Slices, inspired by the very best part of the pint, give fans a way to enjoy euphoric flavors, chunks and swirls in a round single serving that’s enrobed in a decadent chocolatey coating. It’s a to-go order of ice cream goodness that’s easy to take on the road, and hard to resist.

Alongside all those nutty chunks, this pint packs a powerful message under its lid. Together, we can build a more just and equitable tomrrow.

Ben & Jerry's flavor & action campaign supporting reforms that invest in people instead of prisons to deliver justice for all, instead of just for some.

Ben & Jerry's launches Change is Brewing as part of our ongoing work to advance racial justice, calling for the nation to divest from a broken criminal legal system and invest in services that help communities thrive.